Effects of Maternal Employment and Family Socio-Demographic Factors on Parenting and Preschoolers' Behavioral and Language Development in Taiwan

Extensive research has been conducted to study the impact of maternal employment on parenting and child development. However, this literature has been predominantly focused on Western families. Asian cultures place higher values on family harmony, interpersonal relatedness, and self-sacrificing for collective goals than individual autonomy, self-promotion, and self-expression. Traditional Asian families are male-dominant, and husbands are expected to provide economic support, while wives are expected to take care of children and the elders. With the rapid economic development and Westernization of East Asia, more and more married Asian women were working outside of homes and making economic contribution to the household. The related shifts in gender roles, norms governing the household divisions of labor and decision making in Asian families can lead to changes in family dynamics and parenting. Thus, examining the impact of maternal employment and its related socio-demographic factors on parenting and child development in Asian families provides a unique opportunity to study how cultural changes shape parenting and child development.

The present study tested the concurrent relations of mothers’ employment status to their parenting styles and parenting efficacy, and children’s behavioral and language development in a socio-economically diverse sample (N = 511) of preschoolers (4-6 years) in urban and rural Taiwan. Taking an ecological perspective, we considered a range of socio-demographic factors, including SES, family structure, and rural versus urban families as predictors of parenting. We tested a mediation model in which: a) maternal employment and family socio-demographic factors predict mothers’ parenting styles (demandingness and responsiveness) and parenting efficacy, and b) maternal parenting, in turn, predicts children’s behavioral and language development. Maternal employment, family socio-demographic factors, parenting styles, and parenting efficacy were assessed using mothers’ reports, children’s behavioral adjustment was assessed using mothers’ and teachers’ reports, and children’s receptive vocabulary was measured using PPVT-Chinese.

Results of path analysis suggested that working mothers (compared to non-working mothers) reported higher demandingness. Family income and maternal education were associated with higher responsiveness and higher parenting efficacy. The number of children in the family was associated with mothers’ higher demandingness, lower responsiveness, and lower parenting efficacy. Both mothers’ responsiveness and parenting efficacy were associated with children’s lower behavioral problems by mothers’ (but not teachers’) reports.

The findings suggested that the impact of maternal employment on parenting and child development in Taiwanese families is complex and needs to be understood in relation to other family ecological factors. The findings have implications for development, adaptation, and dissemination of evidence-based parent training/education programs to prevent maladjustment and promote competence in Taiwanese children.